


Second Chances

by oneshotsbygabby



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Extended Universe, Justice League (2017)
Genre: Break Up, Explicit Language, F/M, Getting Back Together, Make Up, Pining, Reader-Insert, Tea Time With Alfred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 16:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17103668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneshotsbygabby/pseuds/oneshotsbygabby
Summary: A few months after your breakup with Bruce Wayne, you want to try again, but does he want the same thing?





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on a request I got on my [tumblr](http://oneshotsbygabby.tumblr.com/), but I messed up the request. The request was: 
> 
> hi, will u do a bruce wayne/reader pls where she is dating him but he is not serious with her? he thinks she is shallow because she acted like it. he broke up with her. years later they met again. this time, he is interested with her because he notice something different about her. she is still hurt with him n she kinda acting a bit bitchy toward him. eventually he figures out whats different about her and she also find out his bat secret. pls do this? 
> 
> But while the request asked for serious reader and playboy Bruce, I got it messed up, with serious Bruce and playgirl Reader. I liked it, so I kept it.

In hindsight, you weren't exactly sure _what_ you were expecting.

When it came to guys, you tended to put up a wall. Most of the guys you had been with hadn't minded much; they knew they were just a fling, because that's something you always made a point in saying loud and clear. You didn't like to show too much emotion; you had been hurt pretty badly before and you didn't want to take that chance again.

And he had a reputation, okay? Everyone in the entire goddamned city knew what kind of playboy Bruce Wayne was. You didn't think there was anyone around that thought he was the serious kind.

Maybe it was some kind of midlife crisis or something -- nobody really knew. But you were happy with Bruce, when it was just a fling. And then came the day he decided he wanted a little more than that. Where he was actually looking to _settle down_ , which was something nobody'd ever heard him talk about before.

And because you didn't want to take the chance to be that longtime girl, didn't want to take a chance to open up to anyone and get rejected -- because you'd been through that before -- you weren't sure what was going to happen. And then came the day he broke up with you.

Which was fine, honestly. The breakup didn't affect you as much as the words he used did. Calling you shallow and selfish because you didn't want to open up to anyone -- that was unacceptable. But the breakup? You were completely fine with the two of you not being together anymore.

At least, that's what you thought. Maybe it's just what you told yourself to get through the breakup, but every time you'd see him with another girl, there was something unsettling in your chest. Something that hurt a little more than it should've.

And you still met with Alfred once a week, to have tea. It was a tradition you'd started with him long before you and Bruce broke up, and just because the two of you weren't an item didn't mean you had to give up your traditions.

That one day a week, usually Wednesdays, was the one day you looked forward to every single week. During the time you had been casually involved with Bruce, you and Alfred had become pretty close.

You weren't even sure if Bruce knew that Alfred came to see you every Wednesday afternoon. Part of you wondered if he would be upset if he found out.

You already had the tea brewing when you heard the knock on your apartment door. You go to let Alfred in and he smiles at you when you open the door.

"Miss (y/n), how are you doing today?" He asks you cordially. You smile back at him; Alfred was always so kind to you.

"I'm alright," you reply. "Tea's brewing."

He nods and then walks past you into the apartment. It's a small apartment, but it's all you need. Technically, you don't live in Gotham City anymore -- you couldn't take being so close to him and seeing him with different girls all the time while he was still trying to find _the one_ \-- so you moved. And even though you live in Central City now, it's only a good twenty minutes away. Part of you wondered what Alfred told Bruce every Wednesday to be able to get away.

And even though you were in a new city, and had been for the last few years, you hadn't really dated anyone else -- not even casually. You just didn't feel up to it.

Because, whether you wanted to admit it or not, you had gotten your heart broken.

Alfred sits at the kitchen table as you serve the tea. This was something the two of you had in common -- you both loved tea. Bruce used to tease you and say he had no idea how you could even stomach something that tasted like a foot, but you would just laugh it off.

The memory is still incredibly bittersweet.

"Penny for your thoughts, Miss (y/n)?" Alfred asked, and that's when you realize that your thoughts are running away from you right now. You smile softly and then look at him.

"Alfred, we've known each other several years at this point. How many times do I have to ask you to drop the 'Miss' and just call me (y/n)?" you ask him. He chuckles a bit at that.

"I rather like calling you Miss, Miss (y/n)," Alfred says, and he laughs at the expression on your face.

Deciding you want a change of conversation, you look at him and say, "Tell me what's going on in Gotham City."

He starts filling you in on all the criminals that Batman seems to be putting away, and that's fine for you -- you'd rather talk about anything except for Bruce. But then, a few moments later, of course _he_ comes up in the conversation.

"You ever think about coming to visit?" Alfred asks you, and you know at this moment he's trying to be sneaky.

"Sneaky isn't a good look on you, Alfred," you sigh. "I like it here."

He puts up his hands and then says, "I was just saying, the city is changing. I thought maybe you'd like to come visit sometime. We could go to the museum -- I know you love that place."

"If this is the way you're getting me to come back just so I can see Bruce with another one of his candidates, then no thank you." You see the frown on Alfred's face, so you have to add, "Look, Alfred, I'm glad that you consider me a friend. Really, I am. We always clicked really well and I even appreciate you traveling here to see me every Wednesday like clockwork. It's just...I don't know. There's something missing in my life."

"It's Master Bruce," he says bluntly, and you just kind of stare at him, slightly taken aback. He's never been so forward before.

"I'm sorry if I'm being too bold, Miss (y/n)," Alfred apologizes, "but I think you should at least come back to see the economic growth. Crime is down, thanks to Batman, and the city is just really beautiful. Besides, there's an art show this weekend, on Saturday, and I would love to take you."

"Sorry to break it to you, Alfred, but you're not exactly my type," you tease him, and notice the look he gives you in response. Then he turns serious.

"It'd be nice to spend some time with you. I'll even get you a room in a hotel so you don't have to worry about running into Master Bruce at all. It'd be nice to spend some time with you."

And that's when you thought, _what could possibly go wrong?_

-x-

You needed to have a serious talk with your brain. Because, honestly, _what could possibly go wrong_? How about fucking _everything_?

True to his word, Alfred gets you a nice suite in Gotham City's finest hotel, and there's even a gown waiting for you on the bed. How he's doing this without Bruce knowing, you'll never figure out, but part of you is thankful for it.

And, of course, when you go to the gallery showing, that just _had_ to be the night that the Joker showed up, robbing everyone he can think of. And, then, _of fucking course_ he takes you hostage. Because that's what he does. 

You were pretty sure that Batman would come for you. After all, he had been fighting the Joker for years, and somehow the Joker escaped from Arkham -- and seriously, they really needed to start thinking up ways to make that prison a little more efficient, because honestly? How the hell does everyone seem to fucking escape? -- but Batman was the type who wouldn't let anyone get hurt if he could help it.

And you're right. Batman _does_ show up, but when he does, he shoots you a look. It's a look like he knows you -- and you know that fucking look. It was the same look that Bruce used to shoot at you when he was surprised to see you, and --

_Oh. My. God._ It hits you right then. How the hell had you not noticed it before? And yeah, he had the mask and everything, but someone who has unlimited resources like Bruce Wayne does? They could _easily_ become a superhero.

So he fights the Joker, and gets him put back where he belongs, and then you thank him. He's watching you closely, his eyes seeming to look right into your soul, but that's when you look into his eyes and say, softly, "Thanks...Bruce."

He looks around to see if anyone heard you, but it's right then that he remembers you're the only two in an abandoned art museum, so he takes off his mask. "How'd you know?" he asks you.

"That look," you say. "When you first saw me. You weren't expecting me to be here, but you _knew_ me. I could tell by the look in your eyes."

He nods, silently. Then you clear your throat and then say, "So, did you ever get married?"

He shakes his head, "No. Can't find the right woman, I guess. Maybe I set my expectations up a little too high."

You nod, and feel the awkward silence, but then say, "So is it too forward to ask you to dinner? After all this excitement, I'm fucking famished."

He grins, putting his mask back on so he can face his public, and then, linking his arm through yours, says, "It's a date."

-x-

"There's something different about you, now," Bruce says to you a couple months later. You're still living in Central City, just because you got a good thing going, working at the coffee shop there and you love the small town life, and until now, you haven't had any reasons to move.

The two of you are sitting in said coffee shop, sipping coffee, and he looks at you intently. "I'm just not sure what it is," he finally admits.

You lick your lips. Here's your chance to tell him. You need to tell him what's been on your mind lately.

Because ever since your date after he saved you fro the Joker -- or, rather, when _Batman_ saved you from the Joker -- the two of you hadn't lost contact. You'd been out a few more time. He would come to Central City to see you, and you would spend days in Gotham City with him. But you didn't want to move back just yet -- you didn't want to jinx anything, just in case something back was to happen.

"Bruce, when you broke up with me, back a few years ago, did you mean what you said? About me being shallow and selfish?"

"I thought I did, at the time," he said. He grabs your hand and then says, "I know Alfred came to see you once a week. He always told me that he wasn't going to give up tea time with his favorite partner, even if what you guys like to drink _does_ taste like a foot." He smiles at that, and God, you missed seeing him like this.

"How would you know what a foot tastes like?" You tease back. "Been tasting a lot of them lately?"

"Nah. Just using my imagination." He takes another drink of his coffee and then says, "Alfred would always tell me that I needed to come see you, to apologize for what I said. Even if I _did_ mean it at the time -- which, I realized after you left, after you were out of Gotham and I had no idea where you even lived -- that I _didn't_ mean it. I was just angry...I didn't know how to ask for forgiveness. So I pretended like it didn't happen. But now that you and I are talking again, do you think you could give me another chance? Maybe we could start over?"

"Bruce, I think I would absolutely love that." And then you find yourself thinking, maybe if you _were_ to settle down with Bruce Wayne, life wouldn't be all that bad.


End file.
